Psychology Chapter 12 Extra Notes

15. Which of the following is NOT one of the Big Five personality factors? a. Conscientiousness b. Anxiety c. Extraversion d. Agreeableness

b. Anxiety

Which two primary dimensions did Hans Eysenck and Sybil Eysenck propose for describing personality variation?

introversion-extraversion and emotional stability-instability

12. The total acceptance Rogers advocated as part of a growth-promoting environment is called _______ _______ _______.

unconditional positive regard

What are three big ideas that have survived from Freud's psychoanalytic theory? What are three ways in which Freud's theory has been criticized?

Freud is credited with first drawing attention to (1) the importance of childhood experiences, (2) the existence of the unconscious mind, and (3) our self-protective defense mechanisms. Freud's theory has been criticized as (1) not scientifically testable and offering after-the-fact explanations, (2) focusing too much on sexual conflicts in childhood, and (3) being based on the idea of repression, which has not been supported by modern research.

__________ (Secure/Defensive) self-esteem is linked to more angry and aggressive behavior. __________ (Secure/Defensive) self-esteem is a healthier self-image that allows us to focus beyond ourselves and enjoy a higher quality of life.

Defensive; Secure

What is the best way to predict a person's future behavior?

Examine the person's past behavior patterns in similar situations

11. How might Freud and Rogers differ in their explanations of how the environment influences the development of a criminal?

Freud might argue that the criminal may have lacked the proper guidance as a child for developing a strong superego, allowing the id free rein. Rogers might assert that the criminal was raised in an environment lacking genuineness, acceptance (unconditional positive regard), and empathy, which inhibited psychological growth and led to a negative self-concept.

How do people in individualist and collectivist cultures differ?

Individualists give priority to personal goals over group goals and tend to define their identity in terms of their own personal attributes. Collectivists give priority to group goals over individual goals and tend to define their identity in terms of group identifications.

How well do personality test scores predict our behavior? Explain.

Our scores on personality tests predict our average behavior across many situations much better than they predict our specific behavior in any given situation.

What are the positive and negative effects of high self-esteem?

People who feel confident in their abilities are often happier, have greater motivation, and are less at risk for depression. Inflated self-esteem can lead to self-serving bias, greater aggression, and narcissism

6. _______ tests ask test-takers to respond to an ambiguous image, for example, by describing it or telling a story about it.

Projective

What are the Big Five personality factors, and why are they scientifically useful?

The Big Five personality factors are conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism (emotional stability vs. instability), openness, and extraversion (CANOE). These factors may be objectively measured, they are relatively stable across the life span, and they apply to all cultures in which they have been studied.

How did humanistic psychology provide a fresh perspective?

This movement sought to turn psychology's attention away from drives and conflicts and toward our growth potential. This focus on the way healthy people strive for self-determination and self-realization was in contrast to Freudian theory and strict behaviorism.

What does it mean to be empathic? How about self-actualized? Which humanistic psychologists used these terms?

To be empathic is to share and mirror another person's feelings. Carl Rogers believed that people nurture growth in others by being empathic. Abraham Maslow proposed that self-actualization is the motivation to fulfill one's potential, and one of the ultimate psychological needs (the other is self-transcendence).

Which elements of traditional psychoanalysis have modern-day psychodynamic theorists and therapists retained, and which elements have they mostly left behind?

Today's psychodynamic theories still tend to focus on childhood experiences and attachments, unresolved conflicts, and unconscious influences. However, they are not likely to focus on fixation at any psychosexual stage, or the idea that sexual issues are the basis of our personality.

13. _______ theories of personality focus on describing characteristic behavior patterns, such as agreeableness or extraversion.

Trait

20. A fortune cookie advises, "Love yourself and happiness will follow." Is this good advice?

Yes, if that self-love is of the secure type. Secure self-esteem promotes a focus beyond the self and a higher quality of life. Excessive self-love may promote artificially high or defensive self-esteem, which may lead to unhappiness if negative external feedback triggers anger or aggression.

9. Which of the following is NOT part of the contemporary view of the unconscious? a. Repressed memories of anxiety-provoking events b. Stereotypes that influence our perceptions and interpretations c. Parallel processing that occurs without our conscious knowledge d. Instantly activated emotions and implicit memories of learned skills

a. Repressed memories of anxiety-provoking events

8. Modern-day psychodynamic theorists and therapists agree with Freud about a. the existence of unconscious mental processes. b. the Oedipus complex. c. the predictive value of Freudian theory. d. the superego's role as the executive part of personality.

a. the existence of unconscious mental processes.

17. The social-cognitive perspective proposes our personality is shaped by a process called reciprocal determinism, as personal factors, environmental factors, and behaviors interact. An example of an environmental factor is a. the presence of books in a home. b. a preference for outdoor play. c. the ability to read at a fourth-grade level. d. the fear of violent action on television.

a. the presence of books in a home.

5. Freud believed that defense mechanisms are unconscious attempts to distort or disguise reality, all in an effort to reduce our _______.

anxiety

19. Researchers have found that low self-esteem tends to be linked with life problems. How should this link be interpreted? a. Life problems cause low self-esteem. b. The answer isn't clear because the link is correlational and does not indicate cause and effect. c. Low self-esteem leads to life problems. d. Because of the self-serving bias, we must assume that external factors cause low self-esteem.

b. The answer isn't clear because the link is correlational and does not indicate cause and effect.

4. According to the psychoanalytic view of development, we all pass through a series of psychosexual stages, including the oral, anal, and phallic stages. Conflicts unresolved at any of these stages may lead to a. dormant sexual feelings. b. fixation at that stage. c. unconscious blocking of impulses. d. a distorted gender identity.

b. fixation at that stage.

22. Individualist cultures tend to value _______; collectivist cultures tend to value _______. a. interdependence; independence b. independence; interdependence c. solidarity; uniqueness d. duty; fulfillment

b. independence; interdependence

16. Our scores on personality tests best predict a. our behavior on a specific occasion. b. our average behavior across many situations. c. behavior involving a single trait, such as conscientiousness. d. behavior that depends on the situation or context.

b. our average behavior across many situations.

14. One famous personality inventory is the a. Extraversion-Introversion Scale. b. Person-Situation Inventory. c. MMPI. d. Rorschach.

c. MMPI.

2. According to Freud's view of personality structure, the "executive" system, the _______, seeks to gratify the impulses of the _______ in more acceptable ways. a. id; ego b. ego; superego c. ego; id d. id; superego

c. ego; id

10. Maslow's hierarchy of needs proposes that we must satisfy basic physiological and safety needs before we seek ultimate psychological needs, such as self-actualization. Maslow based his ideas on a. Freudian theory. b. his experiences with patients. c. a series of laboratory experiments. d. his study of healthy, creative people.

d. his study of healthy, creative people.

7. In general, neo-Freudians such as Adler and Horney accepted many of Freud's views but placed more emphasis than he did on a. development throughout the life span. b. the collective unconscious. c. the role of the id. d. social interactions.

d. social interactions.

According to Freud's ideas about the three-part personality structure, the _________ operates on the reality principle and tries to balance demands in a way that produces long-term pleasure rather than pain; the _________ operates on the pleasure principle and seeks immediate gratification; and the _________ represents the voice of our internalized ideals (our conscience ).

ego; id; superego

In the psychoanalytic view, conflicts unresolved during one of the psychosexual stages may lead to _________ at that stage.

fixation

1. Freud believed that we may block painful or unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, or memories from consciousness through an unconscious process called _______.

repression

The tendency to accept responsibility for success and blame circumstances or bad luck for failure is called __________-__________ __________

self-serving bias

18. Critics say that _______-_______ personality theory is very sensitive to an individual's interactions with particular situations, but that it gives too little attention to the person's enduring traits.

social-cognitive

Albert Bandura proposed the ____________-____________ perspective on personality, which emphasizes the interaction of people with their environment. To describe the interacting influences of behavior, thoughts, and environment, he used the term ____________ ____________.

social-cognitive; reciprocal determinism

21. The tendency to overestimate others' attention to and evaluation of our appearance, performance, and mistakes is called the _______ _______.

spotlight effect

3. Freud proposed that the development of the "voice of our moral compass" is related to the _______, which internalizes ideals and provides standards for judgments.

superego

Freud believed that our defense mechanisms operate _________ (consciously/unconsciously) and defend us against _________.

unconsciously; anxiety

12-17: Does research support the consistency of personality traits over time and across situations?

~A person's average traits persist over time and are predictable over many different situations. But traits cannot predict behavior in any one particular situation.

12-22: How do individualist and collectivist cultures differ in their values and goals?

~Although individuals vary, different cultures tend to emphasize either individualism or collectivism. ~Cultures based on self-reliant individualism tend to value personal independence and achievement. ~Cultures based on socially connected collectivism tend to value group goals, social identity, and commitments.

12-19: What criticisms have social-cognitive theorists faced?

~Critics note that social-cognitive theorists focus so much on the situation that they fail to appreciate a person's inner traits, underemphasizing the importance of unconscious motives, emotions, and personality characteristics.

12-5: How did Freud think people defended themselves against anxiety?

~For Freud, anxiety was the product of tensions between the demands of id and superego. ~The ego copes by using unconscious defense mechanisms, such as repression, which he viewed as the basic mechanism underlying and enabling all the others.

12-3: What was Freud's view of personality?

~Freud believed that personality is a result of conflict among the mind's three systems: the id (pleasure-seeking impulses), ego (reality-oriented executive), and superego (internalized set of ideals, or conscience).

12-8: How do today's psychologists view Freud's psychoanalysis?

~Freud rightly drew our attention to the vast unconscious, to the struggle to cope with anxiety and sexuality, to the conflict between biological impulses and social restraints. ~But his concept of repression, and his view of the unconscious as a collection of repressed and unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories, cannot survive scientific scrutiny. ~Freud offered after-the-fact explanations, which are hard to test scientifically. ~Research does not support many of Freud's specific ideas, such as development being fixed in childhood. (We now know it is lifelong.)

12-6: Which of Freud's ideas did his followers accept or reject?

~Freud's early followers, the neo-Freudians, accepted many of his ideas. They differed in placing more emphasis on the conscious mind and in stressing social motives more than sex or aggression. Neo-Freudian Carl Jung proposed the collective unconscious. ~Contemporary psychodynamic theorists and therapists reject Freud's emphasis on sexual motivation. They stress, with support from modern research findings, the view that much of our mental life is unconscious, and they believe that our childhood experiences influence our adult personality and attachment patterns.

12-4: What developmental stages did Freud propose?

~He believed children pass through five psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital). Unresolved conflicts at any stage can leave a person's pleasure-seeking impulses fixated (stalled) at that stage.

12-12: How have humanistic theories influenced psychology? What criticisms have they faced?

~Humanistic psychology helped renew interest in the concept of self, and also laid the groundwork for today's scientific subfield of positive psychology. ~Critics have said that humanistic psychology's concepts were vague and subjective, its values self-centered, and its assumptions naively optimistic.

12-10: How did humanistic psychologists view personality, and what was their goal in studying personality?

~Humanistic theories sought to turn psychology's attention toward human growth potential. ~Abraham Maslow thought that human motivations form a hierarchy of needs. If basic needs are fulfilled, people will strive toward self-actualization and self-transcendence. ~Carl Rogers believed that people are basically good, and that showing unconditional positive regard and being genuine, accepting, and empathic can help others develop a more realistic and positive self-concept.

12-15: What are personality inventories?

~Personality inventories (such as the MMPI ) are questionnaires on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors. ~Unlike projective tests, these tests are objectively scored. But people can fake their answers to create a good impression; objectivity does not guarantee validity.

12-1: What is personality, and what theories inform our understanding of personality?

~Personality is an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. ~Psychoanalytic (and later psychodynamic) theory and humanistic theory have become part of our cultural legacy. They also laid the foundation for later theories, such as trait and social-cognitive theories of personality.

12-7: What are projective tests, how are they used, and how are they criticized?

~Projective tests attempt to assess personality by showing people an ambiguous image designed to trigger projection of the test-taker's unconscious thoughts and feelings. ~The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and the Rorschach inkblot test are two such tests. The Rorschach has low reliability and validity, but some clinicians value it as a source of suggestive leads, an icebreaker, or a revealing interview technique.

12-2: How did Sigmund Freud's treatment of psychological disorders lead to his view of the unconscious mind?

~Psychodynamic theories view personality from the perspective that behavior is a lively (dynamic) interaction between the conscious and unconscious mind. The theories trace their origin to Sigmund Freud's theory of psychoanalysis. ~In treating patients whose disorders had no clear physical explanation, Freud concluded that these problems reflected unacceptable thoughts and feelings, hidden away in the unconscious mind. To explore this hidden part of a patient's mind, Freud used free association and dream analysis.

12-18: How do social-cognitive theorists view personality development, and how do they explore behavior?

~Reciprocal determinism describes the interaction and mutual influence of behavior, internal personal factors, and environmental factors. ~Albert Bandura first proposed the social-cognitive perspective, which views personality as the product of the interaction between a person's traits (including thinking) and the situation—the social world around us. ~Social-cognitive researchers apply principles of learning, cognition, and social behavior to personality. ~A person's average traits are predictable over many different situations, but not in any one particular situation.

12-9: How has modern research developed our understanding of the unconscious?

~Research confirms that we do not have full access to all that goes on in our mind, but the current view of the unconscious is that it is a separate and parallel track of information processing that occurs outside our awareness. Research also supports reaction formation and projection (the false consensus effect). ~This processing includes schemas that control our perceptions; implicit memories of learned skills; instantly activated emotions; and the self-concept and stereotypes that automatically influence how we process information about ourselves and others.

12-21: What evidence reveals self-serving bias, and how do defensive and secure self-esteem differ?

~Self-serving bias is our tendency to perceive ourselves favorably, as when viewing ourselves as better than average or when accepting credit for our successes but not blame for our failures. ~Defensive self-esteem is fragile, focuses on sustaining itself, and views failure or criticism as a threat. ~Secure self-esteem is sturdy, enabling us to feel accepted for who we are.

12-11: How did humanistic psychologists assess a person's sense of self?

~Some rejected any standardized assessments and relied on interviews and conversations. ~Rogers sometimes used questionnaires in which people described their ideal and actual selves, which he later used to judge progress during therapy.

12-16: Which traits seem to provide the most useful information about personality variation?

~The Big Five personality factors—conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion (CANOE)—currently offer the clearest picture of personality. ~These factors are stable and appear to be found in all cultures.

12-20: Why has psychology generated so much research on the self? How important is self-esteem to our well-being?

~The self is the center of personality, organizing our thoughts, feelings, and actions. ~Considering possible selves helps motivate us toward positive development, but focusing too intensely on ourselves can lead to the spotlight effect. ~High self-esteem is beneficial, but unrealistically high self-esteem, which can be narcissistic, is dangerous (linked to aggressive behavior) and fragile. Rather than unrealistically promoting children's feelings of self-worth, it is better to reward their achievements, which leads to feelings of competence.

12-13: How do psychologists use traits to describe personality?

~Trait theorists see personality as a stable and enduring pattern of behavior. They have been more interested in describing our differences than in explaining them. ~They identify factors—clusters of behavior tendencies that occur together.

12-14: What are some common misunderstandings about introversion?

~Western cultures prize extraversion, but introverts have different, equally important skills. Introversion does not equal shyness, and extraverts don't always outperform introverts as leaders or in sales success. Introverts often experience great achievement; many introverts prosper.